diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 72e58ddb3e..ecdcf6c544 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -1943,14 +1943,8 @@ rewindable:
 
 HELP_EXTRA_TASKS = ""
 
-shared-gc: probes.h
-	$(Q) if test -z $(shared_gc_dir); then \
-		echo "You must configure with --with-shared-gc to use shared GC"; \
-		exit 1; \
-	elif test -z $(SHARED_GC); then \
-		echo "You must specify SHARED_GC with the GC to build"; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi
+shared-gc-precheck:
+shared-gc: probes.h shared-gc-precheck
 	$(Q) $(MAKEDIRS) $(shared_gc_dir) .gc/$(arch)/$(SHARED_GC)
 	$(Q) $(RUNRUBY) -C .gc/$(arch)/$(SHARED_GC) $(CURDIR)/$(srcdir)/gc/$(SHARED_GC)/$(EXTCONF)
 	$(Q) $(CHDIR) .gc/$(arch)/$(SHARED_GC) && \
diff --git a/template/Makefile.in b/template/Makefile.in
index c4e2d6d542..78ebe8a338 100644
--- a/template/Makefile.in
+++ b/template/Makefile.in
@@ -348,6 +348,16 @@ $(ruby_pc): config.status Makefile
 	$(Q)pkg_config=${PKG_CONFIG} && PKG_CONFIG_PATH=. $${pkg_config:-:} --print-errors ruby.tmp
 	$(Q)$(MV) -f ruby.tmp.pc $(ruby_pc)
 
+shared-gc-precheck:
+	$(Q) if test -z $(shared_gc_dir); then \
+	    echo "You must configure with --with-shared-gc to use shared GC"; \
+	    exit 1; \
+	fi
+	$(Q) if test -z $(SHARED_GC); then \
+	    echo "You must specify SHARED_GC with the GC to build"; \
+	    exit 1; \
+	fi
+
 pre-install-local:: pkgconfig-data
 
 ruby-runner.h: template/ruby-runner.h.in config.status